Scleroscope.



A. F. SHORE.

SGLBROSGOPB.

MPL10 A121011 FILED Nov. 2e, 1907.

Patented June 28, 1910.

A. 1:". SHORE.

SCLEROSGOPE.

APPLIOATION FILED Nov. 2s, 1907.

Patented June 28, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

qm E WITNESS/f8:

ATOR/VEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT F. SHORE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 SHORE INSTRUMENT MANUFAC- TUBING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., .A CORPORATION OIE' NEW YORK.

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specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 26, 1907. Serial No. 403,981.

citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Scleroscopes, of which the following is a specification.

The object ofmy invention is to furnish a hardness testing apparatus, which shall be direct reading, and which while sufficiently simple to be employed by the non-scientific workman, shall at the same time meet all the requirements of the scientificlaboratory. A further object of myinvention 1s to eliminate from the tests for hardness the false readings due to the accompanying tensile strength, and to allow the true .hardness to be read directly from an indicating scale. My invention is the outcome of a long and widely extending series of experiments to d etermine the true cause for the difference in hardness as observed between dilferent bodies or between different parts of the same body. I believe I have discovered that there is a direct connection between true hardness and elasticity and that there is a fixed ratio between the hardness and elasticity of bodies. In the following description I ass'ume my premise to be true, and I base my reasoning upon this premise and upon the unanimous agreement among the large number of experiments that confirm my opinion. However, should the reason for the effects prove to be erroneous, that will not in any way affect the operation of myl apparatus or the results accruing from its use. It will accurately indicate the hardness and relative characteristics of metals in such a manner that the scientic or non-scientific worker can test his work at every stage, c an determine why a metal works well or poorly, and can reproduce at will a metal having such a degree of hardness as he desires.

The actually essential features of a device for carrying out my invention are a properly fashioned striker falling under gravity,

guides controlling the direction of fall of the striker and means for observin and determining the amount of its reboun Rough tests can be made with such a crude form of my invention, but for commercial and scientiiic results the essential features are a tube, preferably transparent, a piston-like striker free to move in said tube, means for raising thestriker to and retaining it at a definite point, means for releasing the striker and for observing, preferably on a scale, the ex,-

vtent of its rebound.

In the accompanying drawings, which show a preferred form of my invention with all its accessories Figure 1 is a front elevation showing the graduated scale and mostv of the prominent features of the instrument; Fig. 2, a top View; Fig. 3 shows a side elevation, having the suction-bulb that is want-' ing in Fig. 1; Fig. 4: is a vertical section taken through the top of the instrument, showing the means for checking, holding and releasing the striker; Fig. 5 is a full sized View of the striker and its point; Fig. 6 is a front elevation, partly in section, of the simpler form of my apparatus, in which are shown guides controlling the course of the striker; Fig. 7 is a topview of Fig. 6, and Fig. 8, a side view of the same.

Referring to the drawings: 1 is a tripod adjusted by the screws 2, having fastened to it the hardened steel base-plate 3, and the upright post 4, which carries an adjustable sliding pinion-block 5, held in position by the screw 6. The post has also attached to it the adjustable squaring. foot-plate 12.

Patented Julie 28, 1910.

7 is pinion-knob actuating the tongue bar 8, and thereby the metallic casing 9, inclosing the glass tube 10, in which moves the striker 11. In the simplest form of the apparatus this graduated tube is replaced by guides 10a, between which the striker moves, though for convenience of'raising, retaining, dropping and observing the movements of the striker, the glass tube is the preferred form.

Fashioned to the top and bottom of casing 9 are two lugs 13---131 and 1li-141. 13-131 support the rod 15 carrying the adjustable sleeve 16, to which are fastened the setinger 17 and the lens 18. The lug 14 is attachedto the plumb-bob 19, whose lower end swings in the lugmltl, the position of the bob in the gage-hole indicating the general level of the mechanism. In the base 0f .the glass tube casing 9 is a V-shaped ori- Y metallic casing 9, supgleies air to the upper prtion of the glass tu paratus about 1-12th o 23 is a suction bulb for drawing the striker to the top of the glass tube where it is checked by the shock-absorber 24.

The striker 11 is rovided with a shoulder which en ages w en at the highest position in the tu 10 with the piston and catolipin 25, whose action is controlled by the s ring 26 inclosed within and ad]usted by t e cap 27. n

28 1s an air-nipple communicating with the ressure bulb 29.

The striker 11 terminates at its lower end in a microscpically blunt or round point 30, and vveighs'inv my preferred form of apy an ounce. A y In the simpler form of apparatus shown in Figs.,l 7 and 8, guides 10, replacing the tube 10, direct the course of the striker 11, and the device 24* serves the double urpose of shock-absorber Iand catch-pin or the striker 11. Tofit the striker for use in this connection, its top is provided with a circular hole with the rim of which engages the hook-shaped end a, of the shock-absorber 24a. The en agement of the shock-absorber with the stri er is controlled by the spring 31, and a pneumatically operated plungerpin 25 effects the strikers release. 32 1 s a aduated glass stri retained in position y screws 33, and t e strikers rebound is read from the lass scale. Pressing on the bulb 29 forces orward the plun er-pin 25, releasing the hook-end e, and a owing the striker to descend.

The operation of my apparatus is as follows The instrument having been leveled up by means of the ad'usting screws 2, the

position of the plumbob 19 in the center of lug 141 shows that the apparatus is ready for work. Repeated trials of various kinds of leveling devices have compelled the adoption of a ong swinging plumb-bob, suspended as high as possible, as the only way of securing the delicate adjustment requisite for the most accurate work. The metallic casing 9 having been raised by means of the screw 7, and the metal to be tested being placed on the steel base-platef, the casing is lowered until the V-shaped end rests upon the steel under test. Pressure on and release of the bulb 23 draws the striker 11 to the top of the graduated tube 10 where its shoulder is engaged and held by the catch pin 25. To allow the striker to fall freely, the lever 21 is pressed, opening the inlet-valve 22, thereby equalizing the air pressure in the upper and lower portions of the tube 10. This vis necessary, because otherwise the partial vacuum created behind the falling striker would entirel vitiate the results. Pressing now on the air-bulb 29 o erates the piston-catch 25, releasing the str er, which descending, rebounds to a certain height de pendent u on and measuring the hardness of the stee under' test. If we are using the I simplest form of the "device, in which the glllass tubeiis replaced by guides controlling t e tionulb 23 will necessarily not be employed, and the pneumatic-release bulb'29imay be dispensed with. However as it is important that the instrument should be as nearly vertical as possibl'towork at its best, and as shocks interfereiwith correct readings, the perfected device own in the drawings will be referred for ny but the roughest tests, an the suction-b lb, the pneumatic release, the aduated glass tube and the leveling attac ent are desirable features for accurate observation. y

Any7 standard of hardness can be adopted for the scale and any scaley divisions marked off thereon, provided, of course, the scale divisions are coordinated with the hardness of the striker and its rebound. For instance, hardened steel or glass may be chosen as the limit, the scale divided according to the relation as to hardness of other metals to the standard, the results read directly from the scale. I have worked out a special scale for the instrument, as shown in the drawings, in

-which hardened tool steel is taken as 100 and glass as-1'10. The length of the tube 10 being about 10 inches, the 110 divisions show the empiric character-of the scale. In the operation of my device, there are three constants, the height from which the striker falls, the hardness of the striker and the scale deduced from experiment and observation.

To assist in reading the scale, the lens 18 and the set-finger 17 are employed. After a few'trials one has a general idea of about how high the striker will rebound. from a given metal, and the lens and finger are set accordingly. In order to make sure that the point of the striker 11 will not become deformed under repeated blows, it is after being formed, subjected to extreme pressure for the purpose of compressing it as much as o'ssble, after which the point will not yie d under repeated operation. This is an essential feature in my apparatus, for should the striker point give way, the results would be uncertain after a very short time. I overcome this defect in a remarkable degree by compressing the steel striker to as near the limit of compressibility of steel as I can reach, and a pressure of 100,000 lbs. to square inch and more, applied when the steel striker is hot, gives it a fracture resembling glass. In this condition, the striker can be used and give accurate readings for over. a thousand tests, and can then be thrown away, as the expense of replacement is very v exposed surface set square by lowering on it the foot-plate l2, which is adapted to press upon and level up the object. When masses too large to rest upon the base-plate 3 are to be tested, the whole portion of the apparatus supported by the rod 4 is swung 'around until the glass tube casing can be loweredwithout resting on the base-plate 3. The glass tube is then' lowered to the surface upon which the tripod rests and the tests are repeated as before.

I have said the point of the striker should be slightly rounded, and the best results are thus attained. If the point is sharp, the fibers of the metal treated appear to be cut, vthe rebound of the striker' to be irregularly affected, andthe results are unsatisfactory.

The rebound of the striker seems to measure the molecular resistance to penetration, or the force with which the molecules throw back an indenting body. The surface of the tested metal seems to give way without breaking I when a rounded point is used, showin. that the molecules in that immediate vicinity do -not separate beyond the limit of recovering their original arrangement. As Inyinstrument measures the resistance to'. molecular displacement, and as this resistance determinesthe hardness, the rationale of my instruments operation v1s clear. It is an interesting fact that my striker `when-'it falls effects a permanent change in the spot on the metal where it strikes. v

,ond time on thesame spot, itrebounds higher Falling a secserving and registering the rebound of the same.

2. In a hardness testing device, the combination of a specially graduated tube, a very light, highly-compressed striker moving freely in said tube., means for raising the striker in the tube, and means for catchin and retaining the striker at the desire point.

3. In a hardness testing device, the combination of a graduated tube provided with a shock absorber and an adyustable catchpin, a striker moving freely in said tube, and adapted to be stopped and held by the said shock absorber and catch-pin, substantially as set forth.

y 4. In a hardness testing device, the combination of a graduated tube, a striker moving in said tube, and a suction-bulb for raising the striker, substantially as set forth.

v5. In a hardness testing device, the combination of a graduated tube, a striker moving in said tube, a suction device for raising the striker in the tube, and an automatic striker-catch and retaining-pin.

6. In a harness testing device, the combination .of a glass tube, a striker moving freely in said tube, an automatic strikercatch and releasing-pin, and a pneumatically operated striker-release, substantially as set forth.

7. Asanew article of manufacture,ahard ness testing device composed of a highly compressed and hardened light striker having a slightly rounded point, said striker b eing adapted to rebound, guidin means for the striker, and a scale graduate to indicate directly by the rebound of the striker the hardness of the substance under. test.

.Signed at New York in the county of New York and Statev of New York this 30th day of July A. D. 1907.

' ALBERT F. SHORE. Witnesses:

A. S'rE'rsoN, J HART ROBERTSON. 

